What is a rutabaga? I only hear about them as the object of jokes.

During the winter of 1916-1917, World War I was raging and grain and potato crops had failed in Europe. May people had only rutabagas to eat. Distaste for the root crop has been passed down through the generations.

A rutabaga is the result of natural cross-breeding between a turnip and a cabbage. While the root is the part most commonly used as food, the tops are edible, too. The top growth has large leaves similar to cabbage leaves and they help shade out weeds. That certainly got my attention!

Bonnie’s Plants has an excellent write-up on growing rutabagas. They have to be planted no earlier than 90 days before the first frost so the roots will mature during cool weather. They’re well suited to cool climates and a short growing season. They’d make a good replacement for a spring crop that has been harvested.

In the article, it’s suggested that lime, compost and boron be added to the soil. Go ahead and add compost, but never add lime or boron unless you’ve had a soil test done that shows those elements are needed. If you’re gardening in the West, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need lime in your soil.

I had never eaten a rutabaga until this week. I was invited to have dinner with two women who grew up in Iceland. They prepared a traditional Icelandic lamb stew with rice, rutabagas, carrots and onions as well as lamb.

Rutabagas have the texture of a potato and a very mild flavor.

Since I don’t know much about agriculture in Iceland, I had lots of questions about this traditional dish. Since rutabagas are a cool weather crop, they’ve been grown in Iceland for a long time. Carrots, onions and other root crops also do well their climate. Sheep have been raised for centuries and hormones are never used. The rice in the dish is imported.

For the stew, the rutabagas were simply cut into bite-sized pieces and thrown in the pot to simmer with all the other ingredients. YouTube has a good lesson on how to prepare rutabagas.

These days, a lot more produce is grown in Iceland. Back in the 1920’s, the abundant geothermal energy was put to use in greenhouses. Now they grow crops that require a warmer, longer season such as tomatoes, peppers and even bananas!

Geothermal heat is used in greenhouses right here in Idaho. The College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls has geothermal heat in their greenhouses.

Last, but not least, rutabagas were used as Jack-O-Lanterns long before pumpkins were used!

If you have particular questions about gardening you’d like to see addressed in this column, send them to highprairielandscapedesign@yahoo.com.